okay, so i get hit by a car last week and the guy's insurance is gonna replace my reynolds stratus clinchers. I loved the stratus--they're light, all-carbon, brake well, and ride smoothly-- but i've never ridden on any other all-carbon clincher rims. A new set of Stratus will set me back $2400. Any suggestions on alternatives? What about the Corima Aeros?

Or should I just go back to sew-ups? If so, which ones? I'm paralyzed by choice here.

The Reynolds Stratus with the White Industries hubs. If you had the WI hubs on your old wheels I'd rather have them rebuild than a new set.

The best carbon clincher now is probably the LEW VT-1's.

Unfortunately the $2400 from the claim won't cover the cost. I am on the Stratus clinchers and while I wish they were a bit lighter they do perform well and seem strong enough to stand up to abuse pretty well.

I would pick up another pair of NOS Stratus and pocket the difference from the claim.

yeah, they have the White Industries hubs. The wheels survived the accident pretty well. The front wheel hit the car head on at about 35kph and is just a little off-true. The rear is still perfect. But there's no way to know if the rims suffered any unseen damage, so the insurance company will want to take the whole bike.

curious why are the old ones better than the new ones?

But there's no way to know if the rims suffered any unseen damage, so the insurance company will want to take the whole bike.

So buy the bike back from the ins co. They'll be happy to have the salvage value.

frankly, i'm not sure what the difference between the old Stratus and the new DVC rims. Anybody know? As for the hubs, I'm assuming the Whites are better than the DT Swiss ones that come on the new set.

I ride Reynolds DV 46 clinchers. I think Bontrager Aeolus 5.0 and 6.5 are pretty nice too.
I understand that George Hincapie rode a set of Bontrager Aeolus 5.0 thru cobble stones and tried to break them by riding into every little pot holes he could find.
After the failed attemt, he felt confident enough to use it for Paris Roubaix.
Only if his fork steer tube didn't break.....

take a look at this,

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/apr06/roubaix06/?id=/tech/2006/features/hincapie_trek

I do love my Reynolds. When it rains I ride a set of Fulcrum Racing 1.

thanks for the info. I replaced the Stratus with a newer set of Stratus clinchers. The newer model (called the "Stratus Clincher" uses a Reynolds branded hub instead of the White Industries on the earlier Status (Called the "Stratus DV"). Interestingly, the "Reynolds" hubs (DT?) are noticeably inferior to the Whites, making me really miss the wheels that got wrecked.

I have the DV46 clinchers laced the White Industries H1 hubs. They are awesome.

_Eric

What makes the reynolds new Dt hubs inferior to the old White hubs?

I'm certainly no expert, so I can't say I know why (or if) they're better. But I can say that I noticed less friction in the WI hubs. Even just hanging on my wall rack, the WI wheels will spin 2 to 3 times longer than the Reynolds branded ones. The Reynolds hubs also don't seem to be machined as well: the diameter of one of the end caps on the front hub is slightly larger than the other, and is actually difficult to push into the dropout.

I dunno. Maybe it's just a fluke. I also had other problems with the newer set, like less spoke tension resulting in brake rub and spoke noise.

Thanks. Can a person get the Reynolds DV clincher carbon rims custom built with W.I. hubs and DT Aerolite silver spokes? If so, who builds these and what would these wheels cost about?

I ran into a website the other day that offers custom builds. You can choose from a bunch of rim, hub and spoke brands. It'll calculate the cost and weight of your build:

http://www.prowheelbuilder.com/custom.php?cat=aero&step=start

Looks like DVs with WI hubs and Sapim spokes will be around 2 grand. So a couple hundred less than the stock ones.

But before anybody goes off and chooses WI hubs over any others, do some more research. My experience is only with hubs that are a few years old. I have no idea how good the new DTs and WIs compare. And the DTs they used on my wheels may not be their best model.

Of course, you certainly can't go wrong with a set of Chris Kings.

Thanks. Can a person get the Reynolds DV clincher carbon rims custom built with W.I. hubs and DT Aerolite silver spokes? If so, who builds these and what would these wheels cost about?

Sure. Several builders here along with us can do that! :thumbsup:

Have the 2007 Reynolds MV in tubular. Quite happy with the hubs, which are DT 240's branded Reynolds. My wheelset has held up beautifully over the course of the season (picked them up in Apr). Great build, no complaints, only praises to Reynolds.

Sure. Several builders here along with us can do that! :thumbsup:

Thanks.

Would it be stupid to go with a carbon clincher combo like using the reynolds MV clincher on the front wheel and the Stratus DV carbon clincher on the rear wheel?

Thanks.

Would it be stupid to go with a carbon clincher combo like using the reynolds MV clincher on the front wheel and the Stratus DV carbon clincher on the rear wheel?Several people do this to help with crosswinds.

That's up to your needs.